Opinion
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Study: Texas Must Focus on Productivity
Opinion -A new study by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) challenges assertions that poor student achievement in Texas is the result of inadequate funding and that higher taxes are the best way to improve achievement. -
The Economics of Teacher Quality
Opinion -"Bad money drives out good." Gresham's Law As a result of unionization, pay differentials between high-aptitude and low-aptitude teachers have disappeared over the past 50 years. -
DC Voucher Program Moving into High Gear
Opinion -Moving quickly so students can take advantage of the program in the school year starting this fall, the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of DC Mayor Anthony A. -
The Scientific Basis of Teaching Reading
Opinion -Because learning in most subjects depends on reading skills, reading proficiency can be considered the most important goal in the early grades. -
Asbestos Litigation Choking Courts with False Claimants
Opinion -Fueled by powerful trial attorneys rewriting the books on tort law, some 730,000 asbestos claims have been filed ... and most are made by healthy, unimpaired individuals. -
Latest Global Warming Claims Are Flawed, Inflated
Opinion -The release of five gloom-and-doom articles on global warming and climate change, timed just as the Democratic Party was settling on a nominee, was no accident. -
Oklahoma Governor Signs $5.3 Billion Spending Bill
Opinion -While Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry has signed a $5.3 billion spending bill that appropriates funds for the fiscal year beginning July 1, the tax and spending outlook in Oklahoma City is not yet clear. -
States Spend Tobacco Settlement on Budget Shortfalls
Opinion -More than half (54 percent) of the funds states will receive this year from companies bound by the 1998 tobacco settlement will be spent patching state budget shortfalls, according to a report released March 22 by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO). -
Maine Tries ‘Voluntary’ Socialized Health Care
Opinion -While the most dramatic--and widely popular--trend in health care today is toward patient control over health care decision-making, state government officials in Maine appear determined to take their constituents down a path toward socialized medicine -
Kentucky Gov. Fletcher Seeks Insurance Reform
Opinion -On April 2, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher signed HB 650, legislation aimed at resuscitating a health insurance market that has suffered greatly from a decade of state government interference. -
Arbitration: An Alternative to Lawsuits
Opinion -Few aspects of the health care debate seem to generate more vigorous discussion than the way medical malpractice and other legal disputes are resolved. -
05/2004 Friedman Report State Roundup
Opinion -Arizona * California * Florida * Kansas * Louisiana New Hampshire * Pennsylvania * South Carolina * Utah * Wisconsin ARIZONA Tax Credits Benefit Public Schools, Too Many Arizona public schools are experiencing a significant increase in -
Teaching Teachers To Teach Reading
Opinion -"When I was a teacher, I knew I was not as prepared as I should have been to teach certain subjects. Take reading, for example. Even with a degree in education and practice as a student teacher, I didn't know how to teach a child to read. ... -
Governors Call for Endangered Species Act Reform
Opinion -On the 30-year anniversary of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), the nation's governors came together in a bipartisan effort to urge more state participation in federal endangered species programs. -
Requiem for the Kyoto Protocol
Opinion -It may not be a household word, but by now the Kyoto Protocol has become a well-known political slogan. President George W. -
New Highway Construction Coexisting with Cleaner Skies
Opinion -According to a new report by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), "building new highways will do little to alleviate traffic congestion in the long run and likely will exacerbate already severe air pollution problems in metropolitan areas across -
Kansas Fiscal Battle Continues
Opinion -Elected officials in Kansas have spent the first months of the 2004 session trying to put the state's fiscal house in order. As of this writing, no end to the tug-of-war is in sight. -
Maine Taxpayers Favor Property Tax Cap
Opinion -In a recent statewide poll, a majority of Maine taxpayers expressed support for a statewide mandate to cap local property taxes. A referendum on the ballot later this year will give voters an opportunity to vote on the plan. -
Group Offers Weight Loss Plan for Federal Budget
Opinion -The federal budget could easily slim down with a workout in the gym of spending cuts and continued economic growth, according to a nine-step weight loss plan published on January 13 by the Lewisville, Texas-based Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI). -
Denver Teachers Vote for Performance Pay
Opinion -Members of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) on March 19 approved a plan that would replace the traditional salary schedule with one that pays teachers for performance, including the scores of their students on standardized tests. -
Other Charter School News
Opinion -3,000 Charters Proves a Hard Nut to Crack In the fall of 1998, when he signed a bill to encourage states to open more charter schools, then-President Bill Clinton confidently predicted the U.S. would have 3,000 charter schools by the year 2000. -
Smokers Oppose Kentucky Governor’s Tax Plan
Opinion -Reporter Kate Scott of KFVS Channel 12 in Kentucky got an earful from Bluegrass State smokers when she asked how they felt about Governor Ernie Fletcher's proposed cigarette tax increase. "I don't like it," declared Rodney Myatt of Kevil. -
Knowing Why Deficit Will Be Up Doesn’t Take Surplus of Brains
Opinion -Every Presidential election year has its economic themes. In 1992, James Carville famously coined the expression, "It's the economy, stupid!" I'd like to propose a theme for the 2004 election: "It's the spending, stupid! -
Poll: 61% Support Abolishing Death Tax
Opinion -A large majority of Americans believe the estate tax, also known as the "death tax," should be permanently repealed, according to a new survey released March 22 by the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA).